Big Hill Cemetery
Groesbeck, Limestone County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Big Hill Cemetery Established 1888 Historic Texas Cemetery - 2006
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Big Hill Cemetery was established in 1888 in Limestone County, Texas, during the settlement era that followed the Civil War. Recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery, it served the farming families of the surrounding rural community. Burial grounds like this often outlast the settlements they once served, standing as quiet records of pioneer life.
Why it matters
It preserves the memory of the rural Central Texas community that gathered and grew around it in the late 19th century.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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The Odds community took root around 1854 when the David Barron family and other settlers established a scattered farming settlement first known as Buffalo Mott. When a post office opened in 1899, the postal department required a new name, and the still-debated "Odds" stuck. A cotton gin, the Locust Grove school, and Methodist and Baptist congregations anchored the community until declining population thinned it to a scatter of homes.
Criswell Cemetery
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William Williams 'Billie' Gunter came to Limestone County with his family after the Civil War and, with his wife Laura, raised thirteen children. The family burial ground began in 1893 with their infant son Evan and grew to hold several generations of Gunters active in the area's religious, business, and civic life. Also resting here are Jim B. Rankin and his wife, who worked for the Gunter family for a quarter century.
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